US, Ukraine to Initiate Minerals Deal Talks in Washington
KYIV (Reuters) -Technical consultations between the U.S. and Ukraine on a minerals deal will begin in Washington on Friday and will not interfere with Kyiv's other financial commitments, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking a bilateral minerals deal as part of a peace push to end Russia's war in Ukraine. He also sees it as a way to recover billions of dollars spent on military assistance to Kyiv, though the aid was not a loan.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Stefanishyna said the U.S. and Ukrainian teams would meet on Friday and echoed Kyiv's stance that any potential deal would not clash with obligations tied to aid from the European Union or International Monetary Fund.
"Nothing...can be negotiated with Ukraine in a way that will undermine the existing commitments and obligations Ukraine has, including financial ones," she said. "This is something that is not subjected to any negotiation format."
The Trump administration has presented a more expansive draft for the deal, revising its original proposal, and is aiming for privileged access to Ukraine's undersoil riches, Reuters reported last month.
Kyiv has allocated $2.7 million towards consulting services "to protect the national interests of Ukraine and to formulate the position of Ukraine", according to a government document dated April 8.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Yuliia Dysa; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Mark Heinrich)
